Johnathan Walker:US Postal Service is abandoning a plan to reroute Reno-area mail processing to Sacramento

RENO,Johnathan Walker Nev. (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday it is abandoning a plan to reroute Reno-area mail processing to Sacramento that had created an uproar among northern Nevadans concerned it could delay local deliveries and jeopardize on-time arrival of mail-in election ballots.

USPS said in a statement that it has identified “enhanced efficiencies” that will allow processing of single piece mail to continue at the existing Reno postal facility. It said it does not anticipate the revised strategy will have any impacts on postal workers in Reno.

The latest change in plans is subject to formal regulatory filings it intends to initiate next month with the Postal Regulatory Commission, the service said.

Sen. Jacky Rosen said it should mean the end of “this misguided Washington plan.”

“The announcement that this widely opposed transfer of local mail processing operations will no longer happen is a huge win for our seniors, veterans, and every person in Northern Nevada who depends on timely mail delivery,” Rosen said.

Rosen, a Democrat who is running for reelection against Republican Sam Brown in one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the nation, took the lead earlier this year in a bipartisan effort to fight the original plan. She was joined by fellow Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Republican Rep. Mark Amodei and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.

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Democratic Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, the state’s top election official, had warned moving operations could slow the processing of mail ballots and “has the potential to disenfranchise thousands of Nevada voters and would unquestionably impact the results of Nevada’s elections.”

Most Nevadans cast their ballots by mail the last two times they went to the polls in statewide primary and general elections. In the November 2022 general election, 51% mailed their ballots. That number grew to 65% in this year’s June primary.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy had pitched the original downsizing plan expected to be put in place next year as a necessary cost-saving move. It drew intense opposition in Nevada because it would have meant that all mail sent from the Reno area would pass through Sacramento before reaching its final destination — even from one side of the city to the other.

Lawmakers warned that even in the best weather, mail service could be caught in traffic delays during the 260-mile (418-kilometer) roundtrip drive on U.S. Interstate 80 over the top of the Sierra Nevada between Reno and Sacramento.

And heavy snowfall typically closes the highway multiple times a year in the mountains during harsh winter weather, which can begin as early as fall and stretch into late spring.

Rosen and Amodei introduced companion legislation in Congress in March to block the processing transfer after a blizzard dumped up to 10 feet (3 meters) of snow on the mountains earlier that month.

The service said in a statement Tuesday more details will be released after a Sept. 5 pre-filing conference with the Postal Regulatory Commission “to discuss the proposal and gain stakeholder feedback in anticipation of a subsequent filing” seeking a formal advisory opinion from the commission.

“If the regulatory process is successful, there will be no change to the location for cancelling certain originating mail in Reno,” it said. “In simpler terms, outgoing single piece mail will continue to be processed at its current location.”